Employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic claimed some outlandish expenses this year, including pricey exercise bikes, facelifts and private jets.
Emburse, an expense management software company, released a compilation Wednesday of some of the craziest expenses it has seen claimed this year, some of which were actually approved. That included $1,895, which was approved as a contribution for an employee's Peloton Bike under the explanation of “for health and wellness.” On the other hand, a $7,600 expense claim for a facelift was submitted under the category of “repairs and maintenance” but was rejected, despite the pressing need to look one’s best during a Zoom meeting.
Katy Gibson is vice president of product applications at Envestnet Yodlee.
Leonard Wolfe is the president and chairman of the board of United Bank & Trust in Marysville, Kan. United Bank & Trust is a $620 million agricultural bank with 15 branches in nine northeast Kansas communities. Wolfe is the former chairman of the Kansas Bankers Association and served on the American Bankers Association Community Bankers Council and Agricultural Credit Task Force.
Chris Low hails from Sydney, Australia, where he is the lead developer at Sherlock Software. He also runs a small project management startup there, and is a regular contributing writer on enterprise technology issues.
Some expenses weren’t for working from home, but more about getting out of the house safely. An expense claim for a private jet charter costing over $20,000 was submitted and approved under the explanation of “required to limit COVID exposure for international shoots.” Another travel-related expense claim was $2,500 for a helicopter ride, which was not approved.
The $79 expense claim for a dog crate could perhaps be used for travel at some point when that's safer, but in these times it was more plausibly to provide "crate training [for] a new COVID puppy to not run into Zoom meetings."
Below is an infographic produced by Emburse showing this and several other head-scratching claims:
